User: Aemon Targaryen

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House Martell.svg
Garin Olyva
House Martell.svg
Aliases
  • The Iron Lord
  • The Lord Olive
Titles
Allegiances
Race Salty Dorne
Culture Dornishmen
Born In AC, Orangeville
Personal arms House Olyva's sigil, a grey elphant on blue and orange

Garin Olyva is the current Lord of Orangeville and the Head of House Olyva. A banker that because of his expertise in money, was appointed Lord Treasurer of Sunspear by the Prince of Dorne.

History

The Rhoynar Migration

House Olyva traces its origin back to the Rhoynar migration. The Lady of Orangeville who was sworn to Lord Mors Martell had never married and did not have an heir at the time. After the war, she married Olyvar, one of Nymeria's captains, and made him acting Lord of Orangeville. Together they had sons and daughters and because by then the Andal tradition was followed, the male name prevailed and House Olyva was established.

The Founding of the Bank

Lord Garin's grandfather was a small nobleman sworn to House Martell of Sunspear. His lands have grown oranges for many years. Nonetheless, his lands were not populated enough to sustain a well-manned army. The late Lord Olyva decided to increase his fortune by lending money to merchants in Planky Town. With the help of his maester, he succesfully administered his business and this thrived for many years. Ever since, House Olyva has requested to the Citadel only maesters with yellow-gold chains.

After the death of his grandfather, Lord Garin's father assumed the position of Lord of Orangeville and decided to expand his father's business. He formally founded the Bank of Westeros and opened a branch in Oldtown and the following year another one in King's Landing. It was the first bank in Westeros and very rapidly grew in fame and in reserves.

Later on, he opened another branch in Lannisport and the bank got the money of several lords from the Westerlands that for many years mined gold and silver. It was the last branch opened by Lord Garin's father.

Early Life

Lord Garin was born in Orangeville, the seat of his family, in Dorne. He grew up in his family's castle and spent the days studying and training to become a knight. From a young age, his maester noticed that Garin was sharp-witted, but his castle's master-at-arms believed that Garin had no future as a warrior. He was sent to the Water Gardens to be fostered and served there as a squire.

Many years later, after he turned 16, his father was very busy running the bank, so he gave Garin more responsibilities as his heir and had to rule Orangeville in his father's stead. He was a good administrator and this proved him to be worthy of running the bank in the future.

He married a member of House Ladybright.

Life as Lord

After his father died, Garin became the Lord of Orangeville and the head of the Bank. He decided to move the Bank's main branch to King's Landing and bought a mansion there, close to the Old Gate. He did this because he was planning to open two more branches, one in Gulltown and another in White Harbor and those two cities are closer to King's Landing than to Dorne or Oldtown.

After the War of the Five Kings and the Targaryen reconquista, there was economic chaos in Westeros, especially since the Iron Bank of Braavos decided to call its loans and refuse any other till the Iron Throne honors its debt to it. So, Lord Garin decided to offer a loan to the Iron Throne in order for it to pay its debt and granted loans to those who were refused by the Iron Bank.

After this, the Bank of Westeros gained prominence and even more wealth, but at the same time Lord Garin gained jealousy and enmity. The Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms tried to cancel the debt several times and the Bank had to take drastic measures to give their clients interests on their deposits and at the same time to profit from the bank activities.

He doubled his mansions security after a failed attempt to kill him and when it was announced that summer was coming to an end, he started to prepare to go back to Dorne without letting anyone know of his intentions.

Back to Dorne

The days in court were over. Lord Garin and his wife went back to Dorne during autumn. They travelled by ship. When he arrived to Orangeville, he received a letter from the Prince of Dorne in which the Prince was requesting his presence at Sunspear. When he got to the Old Palace, the Prince said that Dorne was in need of a person with a vast knowledge and experience in money matters and offered him the position of Lord Treasurer. Prince Garin reluctantly agreed and on the next day, he sent word to his wife and younger son to come to Sunspear.

Thanks to Garin's efficiency, Dorne did not deteriorate during the winter. His first action as Lord Treasurer was order the construction of cisterns throught the region in order to store rainwater. He said that if he would have been offered the position earlier, he would have sent someone to the Citadel to get a maester with a deep knowledge in agriculture to start preparing for the upcoming winter.

Garin prepared for a five-year winter and when spring finally arrived after a two-year winter, Dorne's products were not only enough to feed the Dornishmen, but also to trade with the other Kingdoms of Westeros. Plums, wine, oranges and watermelons were among the Dornish products that were being trade throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Garin used his bank as facilitator and the economy of Dorne thrived. Because of this, he felt that Dorne's lack of naval power would threaten the flourishment that it was going through.

He suggested the construction of a naval fleet, at least a small one in order to keep pirates off the Dornish coastlands. The Prince of Dorne agreed with him and ordered all the Lords of Dorne whose lands border the sea or a river to acquire and have in their command at least one war vessel. The Prince himself ordered 3 galleys and a dromond.

So far, he has been successful and the Lord of Orangeville is not a small nobleman anymore.